If a Persona didn't appear when he needed it, chances were, she was using it somewhere else.
If she wanted cake, then the chances were she would call him at the oddest hour of the night and make him get her said cake.
Sometimes his mp3 player went missing, and he knew she failed to charge hers.
He had a penchant for ignoring text messages.
She had a penchant for spamming him until he replied.
He was passive.
She was hyper.
(Well, could get hyper)
She could look excessively inviting every morning, especially when she would walk out from her dorm half-asleep, and then go all the way to his dorm just to snuggle up.
And then she would fall asleep again.
While he, on the other hand, was crammed against the wall.
She excelled in numbers.
He flunked them real bad.
Sometimes he got ashamed of himself if and when he was sitting with her in one of her proven cram sessions. His eyes wanted to close, but she never gave up on him, and that made him try harder for her.
He got an 82 in the make-up, but the beaming smile of hers was worth it, and then he decided he should do this more often.
If she got injured badly, the inevitable would come to him.
He'd remember the flash of headlights.
The screeches of the brakes.
Their mother's scream.
Her small body pushing into him.
His act of shielding her from death.
But somehow…
Once she fawned over that pair of Sennheiser headsets, he knew he'd have to start saving up.
Her sets of armor made him trip over his own shoes even before they got to the Tartarus.
(Especially the silver one)
Boys.
He told her if they wanted her number, they should get it from her themselves.
He hated acting like a mailman.
Confusion.
He always stared down anyone who'd ask for his permission if they could date her.
As in.
Stare.
Them.
Down.
A certain beanie-sporting senior told him he should stop acting like a vulture.
She told him what the female network thought about him.
He didn't need to know.
He refused to give his number otherwise.
Told her he hated spammers.
She handed them out anyway to the other team members, insisting it was for 'emergency purposes'
He checked his phone less often.
Delete it, if it's not from her.
Nobody told him he'd start feeling that way toward her.
He had all sorts of excuses.
Nobody else.
There was nobody else.
And he wanted to just…
That one day where he skipped classes made her confront him.
Asked him why he snapped at Takeba, when he could have been more polite.
He said he wasn't interested.
She asked him what was wrong.
He turned up the volume.
She pulled the phones right off his ear.
What's wrong?
Sick.
What's wrong?
I just.
You don't have to hide.
What?
I want to be close too…
She was giddy lately, the others said.
Nobody suspected a thing.
For the most part, he was content being his 'odd doofus' self,
Nodding to the music with his hands in his pockets.
However
He smiled warmly at her when they looked the other way.
Had the license to go to her dorms simply because he was her brother.
(And anyway the girls didn't think he knew those sorts of things)
He did get her the cake at the oddest hours of the night; thank god for part time at Café Chagall.
He got her the Sennheiser headset for her birthday.
He got a bevy of kisses in return, and he wasn't complaining.
Sometimes, it was just so.
Hard.
To.
Behave.
Around her.
March 5, 2010
She didn't need to do the thing she did.
He had planned to do it himself.
But she looked at him with that expression, and he knew there was no dissuading her.
He could remember the sky was so blue.
Graduation day.
Her head rested on his shoulder, and her hand holding his, and she was still warm.
With the last bit of his strength he kissed her forehead, and closed his eyes.
See you soon.